Dr. Jose L. Bacusmo
President
Visayas State University

CHANGE SIGNALS for VSU

• Inability to attract high number of students
• Deteriorating quality of incoming students
• Increasing mismatch between degree and employment of graduates
• Increasing enrolment in courses with prospects for employment abroad
• Exodus for faculty and staff members to developed countries
• Declining annual government investment in higher education, research and extension, and corporatization of SUCs
• Increasing student and university mobility and internationalization of higher education
• Increasing use of computer-assisted instructions in universities

VISION

VSU as the Premier University of Science and Technology in the Visayas

MISSION

Development of world class human capital, scientific knowledge and innovative technology for sustained economic and social development especially for producers, processors and industries in the Visayas.

GOALS

1. Promote partnership/sense of shared stewardship with students, faculty, alumni and other stakeholders in managing and developing the university.
2. Produce highly competent and world class manpower in science and technology especially for agriculture, environmental management and industries.
3. Generate and disseminate relevant knowledge and technology that leads to improved productivity, profitability and sustainability in agriculture, environment and industries.
4. Develop a network of VSU external campuses that are able to deliver or implement quality instruction, training, relevant researches and extension.
5. Generate adequate resources to support VSU's operation in the face of declining government subsidy to SUCs.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Excellence - refers to the imminent goodness of the quality of services, systems and outputs of a university.

Relevance - refers to how pertinent, connected and applicable are the university programs to the social well-being of its stakeholders.

Equity - reflects social justice in designing and delivering services to the people. It specially demand fairness to the disadvantaged sector of the society.

Truth - being in accord with facts and reality and connotes sincerity in action, character and utterance.

Partnership - close cooperation between parties having specified role and responsibilities toward common goals. Also connotes transparency, mutual trust and participation of various sectors in the university in the decision making and implementation of plans for the university.

PROPOSED THRUSTS

Goal 1: Promote partnership or sense of shared stewardship among students, faculty, alumni and other stakeholders..

• Consult various stakeholders of VSU regarding programs, plans, systems and governance of the university.
• Review and update the University Code to address the present realities in the university operation.
• Conduct regular consultation with student, faculty and alumni leaderships and identify areas of cooperation towards improving university's delivery and quality of services.
• Create an Academic Council in accordance with RA 8292
• Strengthen Alumni Relation Office by posting a full-time staff and increasing its budget
• Review and correspondingly improve benefits of employees such that these protects safety, health and image of the employees and the university (ex. per diem, health insurance)

Goal 2: Produce highly competent and world class manpower in science and technology...

• Review and revise the VSU existing curricular offerings to strengthen the development of critical thinking ability, communication ability and to accommodate development of knowledge and skills required in local and foreign employment.
• Expand offering of the University to include other sciences such as material science and engineering, information technology, forensic science, geology and mining.
• Offer more ladderized and skill-oriented courses and establish linkage with local and overseas employers.
• Reconfigure colleges and departments, consolidate programs and reorganize the university structure to attain higher level of decentralization of functions and responsibilities, complementation, effectiveness and efficiency.
• Focus resources of the main and external campuses on program, faculty and facility improvements necessary for delivery of quality service and accreditation by CHED and other bodies.
• Revise hiring policy such that newly hired faculty can be given item, on provisionary status, commensurate to his/her qualification instead of the instructor 1 entry level.
• Initiate a program of hiring and nurturing/developing young and outstanding graduates of VSU.
• Secure more scholarships and provide better incentives to scholars and PRC examination topnotchers (reimburse fees, higher cash incentives and recognitions beyond streamers and plaques)
• Establish a Center for Academic Excellence that will provide short courses on communication as well as reinforcing courses on mathematics and physics.
• Dovetail real and virtual instruction in the present programs. Pilot on-line instruction and computer assisted instruction even within the VSU system.
• Establish presence in strategic sites in the Visayas in the form of experiment stations or external campuses.
• Jointly offer courses with reputable universities abroad.

Goal 3: Generate and disseminate relevant knowledge and technology...